|
|
Roman Calendar |
|
|
KALENDAE RELIGIONIS ROMANORUM
MMDCCLIX AUC |
|
Januarius
Februarius
Martius
Aprilis
Maius
Junius The calendar adopted by the Temple of the Religio Romana is based primarily on the Fasti Antiates Maiores, the only surviving Roman calendar that predates the reform of Julius Caesar. It centers therefore on the religious festivals of the cultus civile, or state religion of the Late Republic, but includes a great deal more. Additional information on the Roman agricultural cycles have been included, derived from Terentius Varro's De Rerum Rustica, Pliny's Natural History, Cato's De Agricultura and by Virgil in the Georgics. Since this calendar has been made in the form of an almanac, we have included mention of certain dates of historical interest, Roman adages, some advice to Roman farmers, as well as prayers to various deities around their festivals, and anniversaries to the Temple of Religio Romana. Each month is given a color - blue, green or purple - for ease of reference. The color of a month appears in its Roman name, as in JUNIUS, and for the kalends, nones, and ides. Originally the Romans followed a lunar cycle. The kalends fell on the New Moon and was held to be sacred to Juno. The nonae, (probably) sacred to Faunus, occurred at the First Quarter, while the ides at Full Moon were sacred to Jupiter. On the kalends of each month the pontifices would announce from the Curia Calabra on the Capitolium on which day would fall the nones. Either on the fifth or seventh of each month. They did this with a prayer to Juno Covella, Die te quinti kalo Iuno Covella, or else, Septimi die te kalo Iuno Covella. On the nones theRex sacrorum and his wife, the Regina sacrorum, offered sacrifices on the Arx, and the Rex sacrorum would then announce what were to be the major festivals of that month. The days after each kalends, nones, and ides were called Dies Ater, or "black day" on which no festivals or business, public or private, is begun because these days were considered especially unlucky. Major festivals are shown in bold, large type and the color of the given month. The most important festivals are shown in red, for example OPALIA, as they were noted in the Fasti Antiates Maiores. Where festival names are written in all capital letters such as FORDICIDIA, these designate what are believed to be the very oldest festivals, traditionally attributed to Numa Pompilius or Romulus. Latin terms and quotations are in Italics. The names of various deities are given in bold type, and those of Roman deities are given in larger fonts as above. Where the names of deities appear in red this too, is taken from the Fasti and blue refers to Temple of Religio Romana anniversaries. Each day of the month is noted in two ways. First an Arabic numeral designates a day according to Julian or Gregorian reckoning. This is followed by Roman annotation. The Romans counted days backward by how long it preceded the following kalends, nones, or ides. And since the Romans counted days inclusively, 2 June, for example, is three days prior to the nones on 5 June, but annotated ante diem IV Nonae Iunoniae. Each day is then annotated with a letter. An F, for fastus, marked an ordinary day when people were allowed under religious law (fas) to do any kind work. A day marked N (nefastus) is one on which no public business could be performed under religious law. NP, for nefastus publicus, were days of the great public festivals, on which none but the most necessary forms of work was allowed. Certain days are marked EN, for endotercius. On these days the morning and evening are held nefastus while the period from afternoon until sunset is held as fastus. Days marked with a C are those fas days on which the various Comitia could meet. |
|
|
Contact us at info@religioromana.net Temple of
Religio Romana. |
